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Brussels Edition: Turning up the heat on China

Brussels Edition
Bloomberg

Welcome to the Brussels Edition, Bloomberg's daily briefing on what matters most in the heart of the European Union.

The EU, Japan and the U.S are stepping up pressure on China to stop bankrolling its companies and stealing foreign technology. Officials in Brussels reckon Beijing will either accept the laundry list of demands or risk seeing the global trade order that China has benefited from crumble. Still, the trilateral tryst in the U.S. capital on Tuesday doesn't mean European and Japanese troubles with Donald Trump's administration have disappeared. And arm-twisting China to sign up to the subsidies deal will be far from simple.

John Ainger and Nikos Chrysoloras

What's Happening

Landing a Deal | U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it's very likely that he will be able to secure a trade deal before the end of the year, despite a looming battle over fishing rights. The issue is likely to come up when Commission President Ursula von der Leyen meets with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in Dublin this evening.

State-Aid Revamp | The Commission has unveiled a plan to mobilize at least 1 trillion euros over the next decade to make Europe the world's first continent to eliminate greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050. A key pillar of the Green Deal includes a pledge to revise state aid rules by next year to foster spending on clean technologies and help phase out fossil fuels.

German Trains | Chancellor Angela Merkel is scrambling to save her climate credentials. Her government is embarking on an 86 billion euro plan to modernize and expand its creaking railway system, in a move billed as an effort to make transportation greener. Merkel is set to meet with the premiers of German coal mining states this week to see if taxpayer cash can hasten an exit from the dirtiest fossil fuel.

Killing Skiing | Alpine regions reliant on the skiing industry are in real danger of losing their main source of income. If greenhouse-gas emissions continue at the same level, snow will almost disappear at lower elevations by the end of the century, according to an expert at Vienna's Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics.

Spy Ring | An adviser to the EU's top court will give a non-binding opinion today in a series of cases from the U.K., France and Belgium, all seeking clarity on the scope of bulk collection of private communications by spy agencies under the bloc's rules. It highlights the continued struggle to find a balance between protecting people against the threat of terrorism and preserving their right to privacy.

In Case You Missed It

Going Nuclear | European nations insist they still want to save the Iran nuclear deal, but to do that they must increase pressure on Tehran. Germany, France and the U.K. triggered an escalation in the standoff on Tuesday, starting formal action against the Islamic Republic for breaching the restrictions on uranium enrichment set out in the 2015 accord.

Mind the Gap | One of the architects of the European Central Bank's unprecedented monetary stimulus over the past decade had a few words of advice for President Christine Lagarde and her planned strategy review: Don't take your eye off the main goal. Peter Praet, the ECB's former chief economist, said that issues such as climate change, while important, shouldn't distract from the mandate to keep prices stable.

Hungarian Democracy | Prime Minister Viktor Orban's clash with the EU took another turn for the worse after an adviser to the bloc's top court slammed his crackdown on foreign-funded NGOs such as those linked to George Soros. While the opinion is non-binding, it comes at a tricky time for Orban, whose party is facing the possibility of expulsion from the EU parliament's largest political group.

Winemaker Solidarity | Californian wine producers are lending support to their French, Spanish and Italian counterparts, who are being squeezed by a $7.5 billion tariff package imposed by President Trump in October in retaliation for government aid to Airbus.

Barca Bucks | Spanish soccer clubs Barcelona and Real Madrid are leading the charge as the world's biggest revenue generators, according to Deloitte's latest money league report. Meanwhile, Manchester United's hold on third place is under threat from local rivals Manchester City and Liverpool after a string of management missteps and sub-par performances. See where your club stands here.

Chart of the Day

Almost 50% of EU citizens identify climate change as one of the three biggest challenges facing their country, making it the top concern ahead of unemployment and access to healthcare, according to a survey by the European Investment Bank. Still, results differ vastly by country, with about 60% in Austria, Denmark and Germany identifying it as a main worry, while in Bulgaria and Latvia it's less than 20%.

Today's Agenda

All times CET.

  • 9:30 a.m. EU top court gives non-binding opinions on the scope of bulk collection of private communications by spy agencies
  • 12 p.m. King Abdullah II of Jordan to address European Parliament in Strasbourg
  • 4:30 p.m. MEPs in Strasbourg debate rule of law in Poland and Hungary
  • 7 p.m. Commission President von der Leyen and Irish Prime Minister Varadkar give press conference in Dublin
  • Brexit Working Party of EU diplomats meets in Brussels to discuss framework for negotiations on future ties between the U.K. and the EU
  • ECB's Holzmann speaks in Vienna
  • Eurogroup's Centeno speaks in Lisbon

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